Kansai Beer Lovers 関西のビール愛好会: Akashi Brewery

I'd been meaning to come out here for a few years and finally had the chance with friends on a Thursday afternoon.

To get to Akashi Brewery by train I took the JR line to Akashi station and then switched to a local train on the Sanyo line going towards Himeji & Aboshi for 9 minutes.

A short walk towards the coast brings you to what looks like a highway rest stop complex that houses the brewery & restaurant complex.

When you get to the brewery you find there's an Italian or Japanese style dining option. You can also enter a corridor with a display of the brewing process, ingredients and Akashi's beer line up. Behind this you'll find some windows allowing you to peek in on the brewery.

A view through the looking glass...

The Brewery restaurant had two lunch options: an Italian style pasta lunch with a salad bar (1400¥) or burgers (8-850¥). Service was pretty slow though our burgers were quite good.

lunch menu

salad bar

1st floor dining area

As we had ordered burgers we were directed to a spacious 2nd floor where we were pretty much the only customers on a weekday afternoon.

Eigashima burger

burger menu

Akashi brewery also has a gift shop full of souvenirs from the area as well as a wide variety of their bottled beers. I've heard this place sometimes gets tour buses who're visiting the nearby Akashi bridge connection Honshu & Shikoku.

The gift shop

The octopus beer has no octopus in it -_-;

They have a variety of bottled beers including: Himeji (Alt), a Schwarzbier, Weizen, Brown Ale and a variety of pilsners but it can be confusing as the labels differ but lack stylistic information. So all in all, they make maybe 6-8 brews.

their beer line up

Akashi Brewery also hosts a museum of traditional Japanese drinking vessels in a back room. The glass cases house hundreds of pottery vessels and surround several large tables making the museum a kind of large banquet hall.

The 1000¥ tasting set of 4 includes a Schwarz, Brown Ale, Weizen & Pilsner and was brought to the table using this cool contraption that had staff carrying four wine glasses suspended below a wooden rod.

Here's my take on the beers from my notes:

The Schwarzbier is a deep cola black with a beige head. It';s got a nice soft sweet chocolate aroma. The taste matches the aroma giving you roasty chocolate. Medium bodied with a dry finish.

The Brown Ale is a matte brown color with a filmy light beige head. It has a mild nutty caramel aroma. Light bodied with a chalky bitter finish. The taste is caramel, some fudge/butterscotch and slightly nutty. Kind of alt like.

The Pilsner is cloudy gold with a thick foamy head. I’m guessing it is an unfiltered pilsner on tap. It has a bready light malt aroma with hints of lemon zest. Light bodied with a smooth mouthfeel. The taste is earthy bitter and green hops.

The Weizen was virtually identical in look to the Pilsner. It had a spot on yeasty clove aroma which I really liked. Light bodied so I found it a bit watery but the tangy clove flavor complemented by chewy wheat was pretty good.

On the second floor they also had a small display of a bunch of old Japanese beer bottles which was kind of cool.

Prices were tax excluded so my Eigashima burger and tasting set came up to 1950¥. It was really quiet on a Thursday afternoon for lunch but a nice spot to chill out.

When I was at the gift shop asking questions about their beers the staff couldn't answer so she fetched one of the brewers who was kind enough to give us a short tour of the brewhouse.